The Lisbon City Council approved on Monday, September 8, proposals from PSD/CDS-PP leadership, PS, and PCP regarding measures in response to the Glória elevator accident, ranging from victim support to the creation of a transparency portal.
The proposals were approved “almost unanimously or unanimously in many cases” during the extraordinary council meeting, stated City Council Vice President Filipe Anacoreta Correia (CDS-PP), mentioning an effort to consolidate the three documents into one, which wasn’t achieved, so the executive voted on each separately.
After the meeting, the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, shared various approved measures on social media, including:
- Creation of a Municipal Support Fund for the victims of the Glória Elevator;
- Naming a street after the brake operator André Marques;
- Building a collective memorial dedicated to the tragedy’s victims;
- Publishing all relevant documents or those requested by any interested party, not subject to confidentiality or under judicial secrecy, on the CML Transparency Portal;
- Establishing a Mission Team for the design of a new technological system for the Glória Elevator and approving its operation launch;
During the same meeting, several “recommendations were aligned” with the Carris Board of Directors:
- Granting a scholarship to the descendants of brake operator André Marques, ensuring their education under a scholarship program for Carris workers’ descendants;
- Providing the widow and descendants of brake operator André Marques with social benefits as per the company’s internal regulations applicable to such cases, including a survivor’s pension complementing any awarded under the work accident insurance;
- Naming one of the new articulated trams in the public service fleet after brake operator André Marques, who lost his life in the Glória Elevator tragedy;
The derailment of the Glória Elevator on Wednesday, September 3, caused 16 fatalities and over 20 injuries.
Among the victims was brake operator André Marques and four employees of Santa Casa da Misericórdia.
Besides the five Portuguese fatalities, there were 11 foreign nationals involved: three Britons, two South Koreans, one Ukrainian, two Canadians, one French, one Swiss, and one American.
Carlos Moedas is under criticism, not only from many Lisbon residents but also the opposition, accusing him of “political responsibility,” “playing the victim,” disinvestment in Carris, and making “false statements” regarding the late socialist minister Jorge Coelho, who resigned following the collapse of the Entre-os-Rios Bridge.
The President of the Republic stated that the mayor of Lisbon is “politically responsible” for the tragedy. However, he emphasized that with elections around a month away, it should be up to the voters to make that judgment.
